As many of you know, I work from home. In the course of some of my projects I am, at times, considered a telecommuter. The following article, written in November, affects myself along with many of my “co-workers” and friends. Please take a second to read the article.

Telecommuters: Beware the Tax Man

I ask that once you read the article, if you agree that this act should be accepted and put into action by Congress, please go here and sign the online petition. This topic is coming back up in the Senate in May, I believe.

In my opinion this is double taxation and very unfair to those who telecommute, especially those of us who are trying to raise a family the way it should be raised by being at home, but who realize that a one income family just isn’t gonna cut it now-a-days.

Thank you all dearly for your help and support!

Just a quickie to say Happy Sweet 16 to my sister Bonnie and my niece Amanda!

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday Bonnie and Amanda!
Happy Birthday to you!

Love you both and may your days be great! Enjoy it you only turn 16 once!

My Indianapolis Colts…that’s what! For yet another year in a row we won’t make it past the playoffs!

My first and biggest complaint is that it all came down to the kicker, Vanderjagt. He hasn’t missed a field goal at home and the commentators had to say something about that right before he kicked, which in my opinion jinxed him! LOL You could so tell he felt awful because he looked like he would cry and in a post game interview he said that it was a bad kick, he missed it, that’s all there was to it and that he would take whatever heat was given him! That my friends is a GREAT player in my opinion.

Throughout the game there were calls made by the officials that were clearly wrong. No I’m not complaining because they were against the Colts because they went both ways.

I must say that I was not impressed with the line either. They are there to protect their QB and they clearly didn’t, not like the Colts line normally does anyhow!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not beating up my Colts at all! They had a wonderful season and I still back them all the way, win or lose, just as I have since I was old enough to watch football. They have a wonderful team who plays so well together and a coach who has done nothing but good for the team!

And I will leave this post with the following: CONGRATULATIONS INDIANAPOLIS COLTS on an AWESOME season and we’ll see you again next year!!!

Teeth…that’s what I’m talking about.

Hunter has been cutting his first 2 teeth since around Thanksgiving and they, of course, still haven’t come in. I didn’t expect them to come this early, but they are. You can feel them on his bottom gum and he is slobbering everywhere, all the time, even in his sleep. I feel so bad for him because he is just miserable and it’s so obvious. He is crying almost all the time and even when he feels like laughing and smiling it usually makes him cry when he does because it hurts his little gums.

Baby Orajel does nothing and he won’t suck on the teething rings for more than about 2 seconds, which is the amount of time it takes him to realize that he is not going to get any food from it. Nipples with cotton balls and pacifiers are a no go too. I feel so bad for the poor guy, but it’s all a part of life that he will not remember so that helps ease the sad feelings on Mom’s part. I keep telling myself and Hunter too that “this too shall pass” and before we know it I’ll be saying oh how I miss those days of him wanting his Mommy all the time!

Another day in the life of a momma and her 4 month old that I had to share!

I do and badly!

I really, really do not understand how, at 4 months old, my baby can get by on 9 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. Aren’t babies supposed to sleep way more than that?

I realize that every child is different and that some require more of one thing and less of another, but I still just don’t get it. Hunter obviously eats in place of sleep! One of life’s great mysteries, I guess, that I will never solve and by the time my handsome little man is sleeping through the night I won’t even remember these days nor will I care to.

I have been working on getting him on somewhat of a routine for the past few days and it is going better than I thought it would honestly. Now if I could just get him to stay up a bit later in the evening (right now he’s nodding off for the night between 7 & 8 o’clock and waking up once anywhere between five and 8 hours later, eating and going back to sleep for another two to three hours. I know this is great but I really would like to ditch the once a night wake up. I have tried everything I know to do, but because he has acid reflux I can’t feed him right before bed and I can’t give him cereal because it constipates him. The poor fella!

I am blessed in the fact that he does put himself to sleep quite often. And when he does sleep soundly it’s the most precious thing I’ve ever seen, rivaling only when Zach sleeps. Yes, I am a mother who still watches her baby sleep at 8 years old.

I will continue going through the days in semi conscious mode, until either he gets rid of the reflux and/or the constipation or God finally realizes that this Momma has had enough and can’t handle anymore! LOL

Btw…does anyone remember where I put that curling iron & make up?

Ok, I know I am and I deserve to be called one, because I haven’t posted here in almost a month! Oops. Give me my thrashings in the comments section if you must.

Since Thanksgiving it has been a madhouse around these parts! I was in Indiana for a week due to the passing of my Gran Gran! Though I will miss her so, I am happy that she is finally at peace and suffering no more and she’s up there in Heaven with my Pap Pap and so many other friends of hers! She will always live on in my heart. She was a very special woman who taught me so much that she didn’t even know she taught me. I love you Gran Gran. Here is a poem that I found, reworded and had read at her funeral.

Since I have known her,
I have respected her,
Since I have respected her,
I have loved her.

I thank her for caring for and listening to me.
I will cherish her forever
and her strength will live on in her Sunny Sunshine.

Need I say more about the time frame from Thanksgiving to now?! LOL

I think we spent every weekend from the time I came home from Indiana until Christmas Eve shopping. I added up the receipts today just out of curiosity to see how much we spent and I only have one thing to say about it: NEVER AGAIN!! It was absolutely ridiculous the money we dished out this year. Don’t get me wrong, every bit of it was deserved by the recipients, but it was still way too much! Thank goodness we have a Christmas savings account set up for next year! Once it’s gone, it’s gone!

My mom has moved back to VA and is living with us now! It’s great having her here again, close to us. There are just some things that only a mother is the right person for and it’s so hard sometimes when she’s 800 miles away! She has helped out so much since she’s been here and she’ll never know just how much that means to me. I must say though that it has and still is taking some getting used to. I’m so stubborn sometimes about doing things myself and I’m not used to having the help around the house and with the boys so I don’t always give in when she wants to help me out. I don’t mean to hurt her feelings but there are a few times that I think I may have when she has offered to help and I didn’t realize that’s what she was doing or I unconsciously did it myself. Like I said, it’s a change that I have to get used to. Slowly but surely I’m getting to where I will let her help more and it has made a big difference in my attitude in general. Thanks again Mom for everything!

I have so much more that I need to post about but I really need to wake Hunter up so that he isn’t up ALL night. No, he still isn’t sleeping through the night yet…I’ve had a few nights where he has slept 6-8 hours, but nothing consistent. I’ve learned that no matter what I do I don’t think he is going to get consistent with his sleeping at night until he is just darn good and ready…more on that in a later post.

Zach is doing wonderful and had a great Christmas! Spoiled that boy is I tell ya!

So until next time…see ya later tators and best wishes for a wonderful 2006!